The AIDS Plays Project is reviving and republishing the theatrical works of writers whose lives were cut short by HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.
We are releasing their plays from the archive and returning them to the stage in one-off performances starring award-winning actors, writers and drag artists. Striving for cultural recovery and repair, we seek to mend the connection between these trailblazing writers and a younger generation of artists and audiences in the UK.
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Exactly how far have you gone with this - spook?
The world premiere of Alan Bowne’s erotic comedy Spook, written in 1985.After the death of their aunt, cousins Eleanor and Lolly inherit a rambling house on the Massachusetts coast. Legend says it’s haunted by the ghost of an eighteenth-century smuggler. And soon enough, a handsome young man begins appearing in their beds at night, eager to seduce them.
Before long, Eleanor, Lolly, and even their uptight local Christian minister, Mr. Butts, are all vying for the spook’s erotic attentions. But as the reason for his haunting emerges, it’s clear he’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants.
Alan Bowne was a playwright and novelist from California, renowned for writing about “the scraggly underbelly of life” (Interview). He began writing at the age of 35, authoring hit plays such as Beirut, Forty-Deuce, and Sharon and Billy. He passed away from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses in 1989. Many of his plays - including Spook – went unperformed during his lifetime. Appearing in the reading will be Selina Griffiths, Georges Hann, Katherine Kingsley, and Alan Turkington.
A rehearsed reading. September 4-6th, 7.30pm. London Performance Studios.
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What will they write about us in the history books of the future?
For one night only, Jim Jewell’s monologue Milo Lookingale will be read by theatre artist Dickie Beau in an unrehearsed public workshop.
Every day, more bad news. Milo flits between tapes of his favourite TV quiz shows and his collection of obituaries for dead friends and lovers, carefully cut out and saved. Over the course of seventy-five minutes, Milo Lookingale sketches an unbearably moving portrait of an ordinary man asking himself: why have I been spared?
Jim Jewell was a writer and teacher from Indiana. He acted in and directed dozens of shows for Stage 212, a community theatre in the Illinois Valley, and edited their newsletter for 17 years. Milo Lookingale, his only play, premiered in 1992 with Jewell in the title role, before touring to Indiana and New York, where it was filmed for television. He passed away from AIDS-related illnesses in 1994, aged 49.
Play Circle. September 18th, 7.30pm. London Performance Studios.
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Since establishing our project in 2023, we have staged plays by trailblazing writers including Charles Ludlam, Harry Kondoleon, Robert Chesley, James Kirkwood and Colm Ó Clúbhán. From a drag-heavy riff on La Traviata to a tender tragedy about phone sex, a bisexual comedy once booed off Broadway to a searing exploration of queer life in 80s Ireland, we unearth hidden gems from history and return them to our queer community.
Each production is accompanied by memories, tributes, and interviews with the writer’s surviving friends, family, and loved ones. Together, we’re building an online archive to carry the legacies of these writers forward.
On World AIDS Day 2024, we partnered with the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt for our production of ‘Christmas on Mars’. Several panels from the quilt—bearing names like Ian Charleson and Nureyev—formed the backdrop to Harry Kondoleon’s haunting exploration of love and loneliness in 80s New York.
Photo: Jake Bush
As our project continues to grow, we’re now working to bring these plays into print—some for the very first time. In 2024, we partnered with Polari Press to republish ‘Christmas on Mars’ in a special edition featuring a conversation with Don Shewey. It serves as a moving tribute to one of America’s most enchanting playwrights.
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Get In Touch
alastair@theaidsplaysproject.comThe AIDS Plays Project was set up by Alastair Curtis. Our project has worked with: Elliott Adcock, Ben Allen, Max Allen, Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea, Rakie Ayola, Lewis Brown, Connor Byrne, Luca Kamleh Chapman, Cavan Clarke, Jeanie Crystal, Alastair Curtis, Florence Dobson, Liadán Dunlea, Sue Gives A Fuck, Alistair Hall, Nicky Harris, Paul Hilton, Dominic Holmes, Luke Hornsby, Orlando/Holly James Johnston, Lauren John Joseph, Florence Keith-Roach, Ms Sharon Le Grand, Syrus Lowe, Mary Malone, Taylor McClaine, Justine Mitchell, Helen Noir, Rilwan Abiola Owokoniran, Izzy Parriss, Melissa Saint, Adam Silver, Sharon Small, and Stuart Thompson.
It was commissioned by London Performance Studios and has also performed at Rich Mix.
Creative production by KIND. Design by Tom Joyes.